The proposition of having 2.6 miles of light rail track connecting Ryan Rd and Old Ox to the rest of the Silver Line is currently being considered by the BOS. It appears that support for this measure is crumbling in the face of the fiscal reality. What worries me most is the fact that this board is trying to come to a final decision in less than six months. Metro will have a larger monetary impact on Loudoun County than the CBPO. Think about that.

All this to get an estimated 12,000 riders? The report that claims this number assumes people are willing to pay for a $10-$20 round trip into Fairfax to DC. Why do this when the current bus system does the same job for a lot less? Why ride when driving costs less, but is more convenient? The price does not include the cost of parking your car at the Metro. The estimated ridership has been called into question given the reality of the cost for using the service. The ridership will be lower. We are looking a cost per rider to the tax payer that is in the thousands. Think about that.

Now, The in politics the golden rule is, “He who controls the gold, makes the rules.” How much Loudoun tax money will MWAA and WMATA have control over, if Loudoun opts-in? Loudoun will be giving up a fair amount of autonomy because the county will be on the hook to feed the Union Machine that is MWAA/WMATA. This is a lot of money for Loudouners to pay just for two periphery stations at the end of the Silver Line. The time for a Loudoun Rail has not yet arrived — and it should never yoke us to the union machine in DC.

Comments

Evidently, the best attack on anti-rail folks is a weak one that decries that we can’t do simple math…using MWAA’s own figures.
York just fueled our side of that fire, too.
Thanks Scott……keep up the stellar strategy.

Metro sucks, except for the miniscule number of people that will use it and the landowners and developers that are poised to make a fortune on it.

Written by G.Stone about 7 years ago.

Metro Phase 1 gets federal funding because it meets the criteria set forth by the Dept of Transportation . Phase 1 ends in Reston. Phase 2 applies for Federal Funding and is Rejected in that it does NOT meet the federal requirements as a Transportation project.

So, what we have is the Obama administration, the biggest spenders in our nations history, the most fiscally irresponsible group to ever occupy the Executive branch can’t find the money for phase 2 of the silver line. The same people who can’t resist filling every rat hole and pot hole with federal cash borrowed from the Chinese say no to Metro Phase 2 based on the fact that it does not meet even their standards. This administration have and can bend standards to meet any political goal, yet can’t find the political will to arm wrestle this one. Why ? I’ll tell you why, the project stinks ! Metro 2 into Loudoun is the 2012 version of a Bridge to Nowhere.

Enter the newly elected Republican BOS in Loudoun County and an army of supposed fiscal conservatives up and down the chain of elected officials who want us to do what even the Obama administration won’t do. We now have Republicans running to the left of Barack Obama on the issue of Transportaion in NOVA.

Let me repeat that, it is both powerful and sickening at the same time. Some Loudoun County Republicans are to the Left of the Obama Administration on the issue of Transportation.

The members of this BOS supporting Metro Phase 2 beyond the airport 2.9 miles into Loudoun should have their Republican Credentials revoked. They should never again call themselves fiscal conservatives. They are not. On this they can’t even fake it. They have been sucked into a poorly constructed project bolstered by numbers bought and paid for by a handful of wealthy developers. They have become worse than the misinformed leftists hacks we as conservatives are forever having to do battle with. They have become Loudouns Crony Capitolists.

What makes me sick, is all the Politicians I talk to off the record that admit this thing stinks. Yet those very same folks are supporting this PIG even if it pisses away millions in Taxpayers money while providing no real relief in the way of communter transportation.

To those who are touting Metro into Loudoun on the grounds it will spurn economic development and therefore worthy of doing, might I suggest the following. Metro Rail must first and formost make sense as a Transportaion project, because, well, that is what it is, a transportation project. If it is a sound transportation project, and at the same time creates economic developement, then great. However, in that this project fails the first and most important test, the point is moot. To skip the first reason for doing the project transportation, and go to economic development as the rational for spending millions of taxpayers money is from a public policy standpoint foolish. Further, it leaves those elected officals making the case to be viewed as working at the behest of a very narrow band of private interests. This is what the crony capitolists on the left do, not number crunching, truth telling , fiscal conservatives with core values.

Jacob… not much free time these days. Restructured the business and pursuing two additional incorporations and all the logistics associated with them.
I’m still involved, but I have to choose my involvements these days.

Written by Cathymac/Loudoun Lady about 7 years ago.

On Crony Capitalism – it not OK when our side does it. I hate hypocrisy!

Written by Wolverine about 7 years ago.

O.K. Let me throw this bone out for the blogopuppies to gnaw on. The pro-Metro side of this debate has been telling us that those mere 2.8 miles of Metro line will bring Loudoun a future cornucopia of new business development. The advantages include easy access to the Silver Line as well as to Dulles airport. It is said that this will make Loudoun a magnet for companies seeking a presence in the D.C area — where the action is, so to speak. “DC-ish” is a coined term I recently saw.

Let us examine a recent case. High up on the facade of the large Boston Properties building in Reston Town Center one could see a prominent logo: ACCENTURE. It may still be there. Accenture is a global tech consulting company with headquarters here and thousands of consultants worldwide handling both private and government contractual business. It is in the major leagues of tech consulting.

That rented space in Reston would seem to be ideal. A choice business location in a relatively new development area. Moreover, the Metro Silver Line is coming, with several new stations and the direct line to Dulles airport — important for a company whose employees travel frequently.

But, earlier this year, Accenture moved its operations center out of Reston. Where? To the new JBG Companies building in Ballston. OK. Another growing development area. Still on the Metro. But now closer to Reagan airport, as well as having the future Silver Line to Dulles.

So, why the move? Apparently the key general factor was the continued prospect of a poor private economy and an expected limitation on the future availability of government contracts. The company saw a need to cut operational costs. By moving to Ballston and reconfiguring their working spaces through enhanced technology to better fit current employes into a smaller space, they figured they could slash office rental costs, even if the rent “per square” in Reston was actually less than that in Ballston. Secondly, they claimed that the new headquarters, in conjunction with other space already in D.C. itself, gives them quicker access to their clients. As one employee stated on a business blog, the distance of the Reston office was somewhat of a pain because almost all of Accenture’s major clients were inside the Beltway. This was also given as a rationale by one of Accenture’s highest level managers. I also hear that an addiitonal reason was the forecast of a future cutting back of government contracts and the consequent need to be closer to the action in an increasingly competitive environment — which makes a heck of a lot of sense to me.

Again, anecdotal. But I have questions for those who are telling us that those 2.8 miles of track will make us the beneficiaries of a development cornucopia:: Given the current economy and economic forecasts, as well as projected cutbacks in federal spending, just how is this newly acquired “DC-ish” of Loudoun going to compete with Arlington, Tysons, and other closer in locales, not to mention the ongoing rivalry with Reston and the Herndon tech corridor? How many years will we have to pay a share of the costs for all of Metro before that promised cornucopia comes traipsing into Ashburn? How do you combat the reasons given by Accenture for their move to Ballston? Are we going to give companies virtually subsidized rent and Hughes-like tax breaks to beat out our competition? Just asking as a taxpayer not among the wealthy, sad to say.

Written by Gaius Baltar about 7 years ago.

Given the current economy and economic forecasts, as well as projected cutbacks in federal spending, just how is this newly acquired “DC-ish” of Loudoun going to compete with Arlington, Tysons, and other closer in locales, not to mention the ongoing rivalry with Reston and the Herndon tech corridor?

The answer is that it will not. Developers would rather have the real and fully developed Tysons, than a wannabe Tysons with less than half the development.

Although I am going to do my part in fighting this, I can’t say that I am confident that the BOS will do the right thing. The developers are telling them that the (over-supply) of housing stock will not be sold and the commercial buildings will be empty if they don’t do this. That is what will happen even if they approve it

Written by squiddy about 7 years ago.

The only development the Loudoun spur will generate will be in the form of new high-density housing subdivisions in Loudoun County, whose developers will then claim “Close to the Silver Line!!”

Gee, just what we need – more houses, which will require more infrastructure, that the rest of us will have to pay for …

Written by Cathymac/Loudoun Lady about 7 years ago.

“The only development the Loudoun spur will generate will be in the form of new high-density housing subdivisions in Loudoun County, whose developers will then claim “Close to the Silver Line!!” ”

Which is what the PEC wants, pack in the high density areas and leave the west alone.

The theory is that all these new people moving to Loudoun to be near the metro will ride around on bikes in their little community (that they apparently will never leave) and do away with their cars (because, you know, they will never leave their bubble). Forever. Imagine taking your kids to soccer or football practice on your Schwinn! Fun times.

Go ahead, keep laughing.

All the “new” and old people moving to Loudoun that want to take the train can drive the 2.8 miles at the airport and save the taxpayers hundreds of millions, even billions.

Written by Barbara Munsey about 7 years ago.

Unless there’s no parking for them at the airport, and none planned in the redesign if it stops there. That could be a problem.

Just as the buses will change as the line gets closer, so will parking if the line stops sooner.

One of the things that broke up the “smart” growth coalition functional at the end of the 90s is the realization on the part of the eastern go-alongs that their fate was to be the park-and-ride for points west, which is as attractive to some there as the notion that vertical sprawl in the east is worth it for the sake of the west.

Written by squiddy about 7 years ago.

On a semi-related note, I see that MD has re-defined “rich” and is raising taxes on those making $100k – (like that’s “rich.”) Unfortunately, that likely means more people relocating to where the jobs are – Virginia – but not necessarily large employers. Even should employers (continue to) relocate, I suspect we’ll see them continuing the current pattern – employers locating in the Tysons-Reston corridor.

However, on the bright side, the increasing taxes in Maryland, New York, and soon, California does represent an opportunity for Virginia to attract major employers from these states. Not that they’ll come to Loudoun, necessarily …